Childbearing

Birth Preparation: Ecstatic Birth

2009-01-16T22:01:00.000-08:00

Mothering Magazine Birth Preparation Article: Ecstatic Birth

Who Should and Should Not Be Present at Birth?

2008-12-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

independentchildbirth.com - Birth Partners

Is internal podalic version a lost art?

2008-12-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

Is internal podalic version a lost art? Optimum mode of delivery in transverse lie. Chauhan AR, Singhal TT, Raut VS - J Postgrad Med

Internal Podalic Version (IPV) is an ancient procedure and was extensively practised by Hippocrates, who recommended cephalic version for all presentations other than the head.[1] Aetius, Celsus and others at different times pointed out the fallacies of the Hippocratic teaching and the advantages of podalic version. Supported by Galen, IPV continued to be in favour till the sixteenth century. IPV had a revival that was initiated by Ambroise Pare (1510-90).[2] Pare was the first to describe clearly and to point out the possibilities and the advantages of podalic version. About a hundred years later, an alteration in the technique of the operation was suggested by Portal – the bringing down of one leg instead of both, as was the custom up till then.[2]

In modern obstetrics, caesarean section is the method of choice for the delivery of babies in transverse lie, and IPV is performed less frequently. While this is true in most cases, does IPV still have a role to play in modern obstetrics, or is it indeed a lost art?

There has been a drastic decrease in the number of IPVs performed on babies with transverse lie in the past decade. Hence, this study was carried to evaluate the changing trend in the mode of delivery of transverse lie, maternal and neonatal outcomes with respect to the mode of delivery and whether IPV has a role to play in the management of second twin.

M.D. addresses handling a hand presentation in 1913

2008-12-19T00:44:00.000-08:00

State Board Questions and Answers - Google Book Search

M.D. recommends podalic version

Hand Presentation / Prolapsed Hand: UK Midwifery Archives

2008-12-19T00:41:00.000-08:00

Hand Presentation / Prolapsed Hand: UK Midwifery Archives

A rare and potentially disastrous complication, managed successfully at a home birth.

"The waters broke and the arm dangled out. I didn't pull on the arm but tried to locate a cephalic pp (presenting part) without success. What to do? I went through the options and and decided to treat as a cord prolapse and got the woman to turn on all fours. This wasn't straightforward as she has a disability. Yet she did get there and then it flashed into my mind after a short prayer to locate the lower limb if possible and do an internal podalic version. This was done between contractions and then with legs and body dangling with the next push a gentle breech extraction was performed of a 2.3kgs baby boy."

Laboring to save home births | csmonitor.com

2008-12-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

Laboring to save home births | csmonitor.com: "Midwife Diane Goslin’s farmhouse office bustles with activity this summer morning. Horse drawn buggies line the driveway, while pregnant women line the waiting room inside – their hair tucked into bonnets, their dark dresses covered by black aprons.

A mother expecting her 11th child arrives with her daughter, who is expecting her first. Women do mending as toddlers scoot around their ankles. Childhood friends reunite, chattering in Pennsylvania Dutch. Sisters shriek with laughter at the unexpected sight of their expectant aunt."...

The world of medicine, for Goslin, is no enemy. Raised in an extended family of doctors, and the mother of a physician as well, she became interested in home birth, she explains, when a hospital-acquired infection she sustained at the birth of her oldest child left her infertile.

Seven years later and about to begin medical school herself, Goslin learned that -- in spite of her diagnosis -- she was pregnant and decided against medical school."I wanted to raise my miracle baby myself," she says. She delivered with a midwife and, believing that such care shouldn't be solely a counter cultural option, began to apprentice with a midwife...

In the Amish farmhouses of this rolling hill country, Goslin is considered family. For some women, she’s delivered a dozen babies. And, in Goslin’s own time of need, this community rallied to help – a departure for the reticent Amish who generally refuse to be photographed or be quoted by name. But on behalf of their midwife, they protested at the state capitol, staged benefits and teas, and filed an amicus brief.

An Amish mother expecting her sixth child recalls how Goslin strapped her birthing supplies on a toboggan and walked uphill to her farm when the road was impassible one winter. "I didn't even think to be worried. I figured she'd get here. She always does."

Hospital sends wrong baby home

2008-11-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

FOXNews.com - It's a Girl... No Wait, Hospital Sends Mom Home With Boy Instead - : "A woman who gave birth to a baby girl had the shock of her life when she went home from the hospital and changed the baby's diaper for the first time — and discovered nurses had given her a boy instead."

YouTube - Hymn by Brooke Fraser

2008-10-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

YouTube - Hymn by Brooke Fraser

Patient undergoing C-section dies - The Boston Globe

2008-10-27T23:34:00.000-07:00

Patient undergoing C-section dies - The Boston Globe:

"The mother died Friday, and the baby experienced complications but appears to be improving, Dr. Kenneth Sands, the hospital's senior vice president of healthcare quality, said in a brief statement.

The risk of death from a caesarean section is estimated at fewer than 1 in 2,500, according to information on the hospital's website.

That is significantly more than the roughly 1-in-10,000 risk of death during a vaginal birth.

CAREY GOLDBERG
� Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company."

Cesarean Section Quadruples The Risk Of Maternal Death

2008-10-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

Cesarean section qudruples the risk o f maternal death

"CESAREAN SECTION QUADRUPLES THE RISK OF MATERNAL DEATH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 1, 2003
Contact: Rae Davies, Executive Director Phone: (888) 282-CIMS Fax: (904) 285-2120 E-mail: info@motherfriendly.org
The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services views with alarm a recent study showing that U.S. women having cesarean sections are four times more likely to die compared with women having vaginal births.1 Investigators reported a maternal death rate of 36 per 100,000 cesarean operations versus 9 per 100,000 vaginal births. This is the difference attributable to the surgery itself, not any complications that might have led to the need for surgery. Based on calculations of what constitutes a reasonable cesarean rate versus the actual U.S. cesarean rate,* 135 women die every year as a result of having surgery they did not need.
Moreover, the difference in mortality rates between cesarean section and vaginal birth is almost certainly larger than it appears. Investigators only considered deaths occurring up to 1 year after delivery. Some surgically-related deaths—scar tissue causing a twisted bowel, for example—may occur after the 1-year cut-off.
In a press release entitled “Weighing the Pros and Cons of Cesarean Delivery,” the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists offered the theory that cesarean section benefits mothers by protecting against pelvic floor prolapse as a counterbalance to the fact that it was associated with an increased maternal death rate.2 The research, however, does not support this theory. While some studies do report a short-term benefit with cesarean section for a few women,3 none find long-term differences in symptoms resulting from pelvic floor weakness or injury to maternal tissues.3-7 Other studies report considerable percentages of women with urinary or bowel problems in the early weeks and months after cesarean surgery.8-9
The finding that cesarean section offers no long-term advantages holds true even without taking into account that many features of standard obstetric management cause or contribute to weakness or damage, and the use of these features could be greatly reduced or eliminated. These include episiotomy, fundal pressure (pushing down on the woman’s belly to expel the baby), vacuum extraction, forceps delivery, and how and in what positions women are directed to push.10 Indeed, the ACOG press release acknowledges that vaginal instrumental delivery produces the worst results. Epidural analgesia also contributes indirectly by increasing the need for vaginal instrumental delivery and episiotomy.11-12 Had women birthing vaginally received optimal care, the incidence of pelvic floor laxity and genital injury would likely have been much smaller.
CIMS contends that reducing the use of injurious practices would do far more to improve maternal health and well-being than substituting major abdominal surgery. Increased risk of maternal death is but one of the many hazards of cesarean section. (See CIMS fact sheet, The Risks of Cesarean Delivery to Mother and Baby.)

*The 2002 cesarean rate was 26%. This means that about one million of the 4 million U.S. women giving birth every year have cesarean sections.13 The World Health Organization recommends no more than a 10% to 15% cesarean rate.14 If the U.S. cesarean rate were halved, 500,000 fewer women annually would have had cesarean sections. The death rate among them would have been 9 per 100,000 (45 women) rather than 36 per 100,000 (180 women) – a difference of 135 lives. {the present cesarean rate in the US is 33.1%}"

Brewer Diet Registry USA

2008-10-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

Registry II: "A List of Pro-Brewer Doulas, Midwives, Physicians, and Teachers"

The Brewer Pregnancy Diet

2008-10-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

The Brewer Pregnancy Diet

Our Faith at One True Media

2008-07-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

Our Faith at One True Media - share slideshows, slide shows, MySpace slideshows, MySpace codes, free video sharing, video montages.

New DVD -Home Birth Dads

2008-07-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

Fathers' perspectives on birth at home!

http://homebirthdads.com/

Birthing Options - Traditional Midwifery Care

2008-07-03T00:33:00.000-07:00

Birthing Options - Traditional Midwifery Care: "They told me babies

should not be held;

It would spoil them

and make them cry.

I wished to do what is

best for them.

And the years went

swiftly by.

Now empty are

my yearning arms:

No more that

thrill sublime.

If I had my babies

back again,

I'd hold them all the time."

Breastfeeding and the Bible

2008-04-02T01:38:00.000-07:00

Gentle Beginnings - Breastfeeding and the Bible

Advantages of homebirth. - Free Online Library

2008-04-02T01:02:00.000-07:00

Advantages of homebirth. - Free Online Library

Later-in-life babies may cut cancer risk. - Free Online Library

2008-04-02T01:01:00.000-07:00

Later-in-life babies may cut cancer risk. - Free Online Library

Maybe Pregnant mammas CAN eat Canned Fish!

2008-03-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Powerful New Salvo In The Fish Wars: "This important study, set for publication next week in the American Journal of Epidemiology, is just the latest sign that activist groups like Oceana, the Environmental Working Group, and the Sea Turtle Restoration Project are dead wrong about the supposed health threat from trace levels of mercury in fish.
The research team, led by Harvard’s Dr. Emily Oken, wrote:

“The 28 mothers (8 percent) who reported eating canned tuna at least twice weekly had children with higher scores … compared with the 130 mothers (38 percent) who reported never eating tuna fish” while pregnant."

“We next examined maternal fish intake and mercury levels simultaneously … Children whose mothers consumed more than two weekly fish servings and whose mercury levels were in the top decile also had somewhat higher scores, whereas children of mothers who consumed up to two weekly servings of fish and had mercury levels in the top decile had somewhat lower scores.” [emphasis added]

Translation: Among mothers with the highest mercury levels, those who ate the most fish (more than two servings per week) had children who performed above average on cognitive tests. High-mercury moms who ate less fish were the ones whose kids appear to be at a disadvantage. The key appears to be tuna. The most maligned fish in the sea, it turns out, is actually a comparatively low-mercury choice. We found as much in our 2006 fish-testing reports (see page 7 here, and page 10 here).
“Science doesn’t lie. Pregnant women who frequently eat canned tuna are having brainier children than those who don’t. Green groups have been demonizing tuna for years. Now it looks like they’ve been causing the very harm they sought to prevent.”

Birth Trauma Myths

2008-03-31T04:36:00.000-07:00

Joyous Birth - The Australian Homebirth Network:

MYTH 4: Just concentrate on your healthy baby, and get over it, can also be: You’ll forget all about it as soon as you see your baby.

FACT: If you are raped, being given a present at the end of it doesn’t wipe out the rape. It may give you very ambivalent feelings about the gift but it doesn’t somehow cure you of the trauma and to suggest that women are so facile and stupid is offensive indeed. What this usually means is that the person speaking is uncomfortable with the pain they see visible in the woman and wish she would stop making them feel that way.

Facing off a Butcher | The Daily Telegraph

2008-03-31T04:26:00.000-07:00

Facing off a Butcher | The Daily Telegraph: "RALLIES are being held around Australia today by women fighting for justice against former doctor Graeme Reeves, dubbed the Butcher of Bega.

Women, including victims, will protest outside Parliament House over the health system's inaction on Reeves, who allegedly mutilated and sexually abused hundreds.

And more nurses who worked with the doctor are breaking their silence."

Women have taken their rage to Facebook, setting up a club site called "Hang the Butcher of Bega".

The site has spread the message about today's rallies, organised by the Joyous Birth Network. It has 86 members.

The Many Faces of MRSA: Community-Acquired Infection Knows No Bounds

2008-03-31T04:20:00.000-07:00

Annals of Emergency Medicine:

A Breeding Ground?

Jevons’ finding ushered in several decades in which methicillin-resistant staph became a feared nosocomial pathogen. It sparked ferocious outbreaks in critical care units: In 1980, in just one example, a burn patient transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle transmitted MRSA to 34 other patients in 15 months despite the staff’s best efforts at infection control, and 17 of the patients died.3 That outbreak also signaled how formidably resistant the hospital strain of staph would become: the original patient’s isolate was resistant to quinolones, clindamycin, erythromycin, trimethoprim, and gentamicin in addition to the beta-lactams.

The new prevalence of CA-MRSA poses additional challenges for ED staff. Hospital-acquired-MRSA became endemic in hospitals through simple failures in infection control; several studies in the past decade have demonstrated that EDs’ record of hand-washing is poor.34, 35, 36 The risks of poor hygiene in an ED are likely to be exacerbated not only by ED stress and crowding, but also by MRSA’s known ability to remain viable on hospital surfaces—in one study, for more than 12 days.37

And if EDs become amplifiers of CA-MRSA, it may not only be patients who are at risk. Last year, a Garland, TX firefighter and emergency medical technician died of invasive MRSA,38 and a Troy, NY firefighter/EMT was temporarily disabled by extensive soft tissue infection.39 In 2005, this journal carried a report of an emergency medicine resident with recurrent MRSA infection that might have been occupationally acquired.40

CA-MRSA “is here to stay,” Moran said, who hopes to repeat the EmergencyID Net study this year to see whether prevalence continues to increase or has plateaued. “It has become the new normal. There is something about these strains that gives them a survival advantage, and I don’t think we will see that go away.”

What happens when an infant gets a staph infection in the hospital that is resistant to drugs?

Women in labour turned away by maternity units | Society | The Guardian

2008-03-31T04:09:00.000-07:00

Women in labour turned away by maternity units | Society | The Guardian: "Women in labour are being refused entry to overstretched maternity units and told to give birth elsewhere, NHS hospitals admitted yesterday in response to an application under the Freedom of Information Act. They disclosed that maternity wards in almost 10% of trusts closed their doors to new admissions on at least 10 days last year. One trust in North Yorkshire closed 39 times between October and January because it did not have enough staff to provide a safe service.

The NHS encourages mothers planning a hospital delivery to make a booking early in pregnancy and get to know about the facilities during regular check-ups with a midwife. Most mothers discuss a birth plan with a consultant obstetrician, including choice of pain relief.

These preparations are made on the assumption that the hospital will have enough capacity to deal with unpredictable peaks in demand when women go into labour. But information disclosed to the Conservative party under the FoI Act showed 42% of trusts could not get through last year without turning women away at least once."

The Dangers of Prenatal Ultrasound

2008-03-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

The Dangers of Prenatal Ultrasound

VBAC Facts.com Don't freak, know the facts

2008-03-25T03:21:00.000-07:00

VBAC Facts � Why Homebirth/ HBAC?

SARAH -Wife of Abraham

2008-03-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ultimate Example of True Femininity 1 Peter 3:1-6

The ultimate example of true femininity.

1Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

2While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

3Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

4But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

5For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

6Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

"Don't you know what causes children?"

2008-03-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

Biblical Reasons for Having Babies

A Birth Control Guide for Engaged and Newlywed Couples

2008-03-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Everything A Christian Should Know About Birth Control Devices

The History of Midwifery and Childbirth - A Time Line

2008-03-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

The History of Midwifery and Childbirth - A Time Line

The Family: Children: Heritage of the Lord

2008-03-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

The Family: Children: Heritage of the Lord

Bearing Children

2008-03-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

Bearing Children:

"'Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.'
(Psalm 127:3-5)."

U.S. is 28th in the World in Infant Mortality

2008-03-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

U.S. is 28th in the World in Infant Mortality

Amazon.com: THE EMPTY CRADLE: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity And What to Do About It: Phillip Longman: Books

2008-03-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com: THE EMPTY CRADLE: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity And What to Do About It: Phillip Longman: Books

American Life League -Underpopulation

2008-03-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

American Life League presents STOPP International

Welcome to Tznius.com - Modest Clothing - Modest Jewish Clothing, Tznius

2008-03-20T02:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Tznius.com - Modest Clothing - Modest Jewish Clothing, Tznius

ICAN-online : ICAN

2008-03-20T02:29:00.000-07:00

ICAN-online : ICAN: "The International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) email list is an online support group for anyone wishing to discuss birth and cesarean issues. Topics of discussion frequently include how to avoid an unnecessary cesarean, preparing for VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), healing and grieving from a difficult or traumatic previous birth, how to find a caregiver who is supportive of vaginal birth and VBAC, informed consent, childbirth education, the role of doulas and midwives, birth stories, etc. The list is made up primarily of mothers, in addition to some doulas, midwives, childbirth educators, and occasionally fathers. You can choose to receive all messages posted to the group as individual emails, or grouped together in digests. When you join the list, please offer an introduction to the group, perhaps through telling your birth stories or explaining your interest in ICAN. We look forward to chatting with you!"

Birthing The Easy Way by Sheila Stubbs

2008-03-20T02:27:00.000-07:00

birthingtheeasyway.tk

Myths About the Headcovering

2008-03-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Myths About the Headcovering

Christian headcovering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2008-03-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

Christian headcovering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

YouTube - The Story of Mrs. Amy Philo

2008-03-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

YouTube - One Example of Why We MUST Stop the MOTHERS Act

Byron J. Richards -- Big Brother Eyeing Expectant Mothers

2008-03-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Branding Pregnancy as Mental Illness

By Byron J. Richards, CCN

March 13, 2008

NewsWithViews.com

The Mothers Act is pending legislation that will indoctrinate hundreds of thousands of mothers into taking dangerous psych drugs. It is a great example of how the Big Pharma lobby controls Congress to the detriment of health, as well as needlessly and dramatically inflating the costs of our health care system for everyone. Like any piece of legislation it purports to address a troubling issue – in this case the mood distress of mothers following birth known as postpartum depression. It is true that 10% - 15% of women need some assistance in dealing with this topic – but the majority of them sure don’t need it from Big Pharma. That is the Big Lie.

Dennis Quaid and Wife Find Twins nearly killed by Hosptial(VIDEO)

2008-03-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

Dennis Quaid reccounts his newborn twins' drug overdose

Quaid states, "We all have this inherent thing that we trust doctor and nurses, that they know what they're doing. But the mistake occurred right under our noses...

The nurse didn't bother to look at the dosage on the bottle. There were 10 units that our kids were supposed to get and they got 10,000 which basically turned their blood to the consistency of water.

Complete inability to clot. They were basically bleeding out.

But the hosptial never called the Quaids and they didn't know anything until they went to the hospital room early the next morning and went to the twins' room.

"Blood splattered about six feet and landed on the wall. There was blood everywhere."

"Two massive, overdoses, a thousand times what they should have over an 8 hour period, that we know of."

The Trust Birth Initiative -- Become a Facilitator

2008-03-13T00:52:00.000-07:00

The Trust Birth Initiative -- Become a Facilitator: "I have spent a lot of time thinking about the meaning of the trust part of TRUST BIRTH. Trust cannot be defined apart from faith. Because I have faith that we are made to give birth and were designed by someone much smarter than we are, I can trust that birth was meant to work. My own trust in birth is very much a part of who I am, my faith in God, and what I believe about trust and truth and purpose. Joining the Trust Birth Initiative may have no spiritual connotation for you, but I had an epiphany that brought it all into clear focus for me.

As you may already know, I am working on a book entitled Coming Home to Birth. In addition to many of your stories, I will tell my own story of how I went from being a naive, uneducated compliant patient one moment, whose only preparation had been to read Having A Baby Can Be A Scream, by Joan Rivers ——— to being a bold, determined, and very vocal woman who threatened physical harm to my obstetrician if he came close to me with anything sharper than a piece of paper. That change did not happen over months or days or weeks but within a minute. Here is the epiphany: That did not come from me, but from within me. It was already there. We are born trusting. We have to be taught not to. Trust is part of the package. We are obviously designed to give birth. We must have been born to TRUST BIRTH. We have been taught to ignore what we already know. We have been taught that birth is scary and must be left to the experts. We have been taught a pack of lies." - Carla Hartley

IMAGINE

2008-03-13T00:45:00.000-07:00

Imagine Women Being Told the Truth about Birth

What is Trust Birth?

2008-03-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

whatistrustbirth.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Welcome to Birthing the Easy Way

2008-03-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Birthing the Easy Way

Fresh back from Carla Hartley's Trust Birth Confernece, Birthfriend said "Sheila’s book, Birthing the Easy Way is one I highly recommend to clients who are sitting on the fence about homebirth."

Carla Hartley, a hero in the birth community - Birthfriend’s place to ponder

2008-03-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

Carla Hartley, a hero in the birth community - Birthfriend’s place to ponder

And for Carla: The chance to finally meet you in person after only getting to know you through email and the phone was unforgettable. I will never be able to thank you enough for the sacrifices you and your family have made. History will prove you are truly a woman for our time.

A Timely Birth - by Gail Hart

2008-03-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

A Timely Birth - by Gail Hart

A report from one attendee of the Trust Birth Conference

2008-03-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

I’m Back from the Trust Birth Conference!: "I got to see the midwife Gail Hart declare “don’t ask for licensing from the state! Forget the State!” (I paraphrase, MAN I wish I could remember exactly what she said, it rocked!)"

Thank you for the report Hathor, most esp. on Gail Hart. That sounds like a midwife to look into...

Big Brother Watch: Screening Pregnancies

2008-03-04T01:16:00.000-08:00

Big Brother Watch: Screening Pregnancies

ICAN-online : ICAN

2008-03-03T22:46:00.000-08:00

ICAN-online : ICAN

The International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) email list is an online support group for anyone wishing to discuss birth and cesarean issues. Topics of discussion frequently include how to avoid an unnecessary cesarean, preparing for VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), healing and grieving from a difficult or traumatic previous birth, how to find a caregiver who is supportive of vaginal birth and VBAC, informed consent, childbirth education, the role of doulas and midwives, birth stories, etc. The list is made up primarily of mothers, in addition to some doulas, midwives, childbirth educators, and occasionally fathers. You can choose to receive all messages posted to the group as individual emails, or grouped together in digests. When you join the list, please offer an introduction to the group, perhaps through telling your birth stories or explaining your interest in ICAN. We look forward to chatting with you!

Breastfeeding in the Bible

2008-03-02T05:20:00.000-08:00

breastfeeding.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Birth Control & Family Planning in Christian Families: Genesis 1:28

2008-03-02T03:18:00.000-08:00

Birth Control & Family Planning in Christian Families: Genesis 1:28

Natural Christian Parenting

2008-03-02T02:35:00.000-08:00

Natural Christian Parenting

Mothering Celebrates La Leche League International's 50th Anniversary (new info daily!)

2008-03-02T02:28:00.000-08:00

Mothering Celebrates La Leche League International's 50th Anniversary (new info daily!)

Things that make you go "hmmm..."

2008-03-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

The Sentinel Online : State: "The board's proposal would define 'midwife' as someone licensed to practice in collaboration with a doctor licensed by the medical board."

Thank you medical god.

BABY International Film Festival - Redondo Beach

2008-03-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

BABY International Film Festival - Redondo Beach

Another very sad hospital birth -wedding picture included

2008-02-29T09:08:00.000-08:00

Mother to be left unattended dies in hospital after c-section- leaves motherless child| News | This is London: "Medical staff were warned about her condition and a family friend even told a midwife to keep an eye on her in the bath.

But the estate agent was left unattended for 45 minutes and was discovered only when the friend returned from picking up her belongings, an inquest in Nottingham heard.

Coroner Dr Nigel Chapman said he was able only to record an open verdict because of uncertainty over how Mrs Maddi died."

But when he came back an hour later Mrs Maddi was still in the bathroom with the door locked.

She did not respond to knocking so midwives opened the door and found her submerged under water and not breathing.

Doctors resuscitated her and delivered her baby Jayden but Mrs Maddi later died.

Hospital officials have since admitted there were no official guidelines on whether pregnant women should be left to bathe on their own - but there was the assumption among the midwives on duty that Mrs Maddi would not be left alone during her bath.

The hearing was told Mrs Maddi had written to the hospital saying she was under stress because her mother had died and had warned them the fainting attacks were increasing.

Hospital management have promised to introduce guidelines about the supervision of patients to avoid a repeat of the tragedy.

Mr Maddi, 29, a warehouse worker, has instructed solicitors to take legal action against the hospital trust.

He said after the hearing: "I hope they keep to their word and make the changes, that is all I want now. My son will never know his mother.

"My son might not even have been alive if Paul hadn't come back when he did. I just hope that something-good will come out of losing my wife."

Mr Guthrie added: "The word observation means to watch but obviously Lorraine wasn't watched.

***
In other words, no one was "with" this mother in labour.

Consider Home Birth for that Breech Baby!

2008-02-28T02:14:00.000-08:00

Breech Of Trust_Hands off the breech baby
by Lisa Bobrow

Mothercraft Consulting LLC

2008-02-28T02:10:00.000-08:00

The following are notes I took from Janelle's posts at a Virginia birth support group. Janelle is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and stays busy with Mothercraft Consulting LLC

"The only reason I attend birth at home is because it is medically safer." -- Mayer Eisenstein, MD

"Home birth is not noninterventional. they intervene to protect the mother from obstetricians, the baby from pediatricians, and to protect both from the hospital. I regard that as interventionist."

(Hmmmm. Maybe I'm a lot more interventionist than I thought . . . )

(speaking of a homebirth practice) "They don't endanger mothers and babies with dangerous drugs, tests and surgeries. Your chances of death, disability, mental retardation, epilepsy, convulsions and sudden infant death syndrome are far greater in the hospital than at home. IF OBSTETRICIANS ARE GIVING DRUGS TO WOMEN IN LABOR, DOING EPISIOTOMIES, AND HAVE A HIGH RATE OF CESAREAN SECTIONS, THEN THEY ARE NO GOOD" (emphasis mine)

I love it. And I love this book: "The Home Birth Advantage: A Time-honored Tradition for the New Millennium" by Mayer Eisenstein, MD

"The midwife considers the miracle of childbirth as normal, and leaves it alone unless there's trouble. The obstetrician normally sees childbirth as trouble: if he leaves it alone, it's a miracle"

The Home Birth Advantage

"You are a birth helper: you are assisting at someone else's birth. Do good without show or fuss … If you must take the lead, lead so that the mother is helped, yet still free and in charge. When the baby is born, the mother will rightly say, "We did it ourselves". - Dao De Jing, 500 B.C.

Prior Successful VBAC Linked to Low Risk for Complications Later

2008-02-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

Prior Successful VBAC Linked to Low Risk for Complications Later: "February 8, 2008 — Women with previous successful attempts at vaginal birth after cesarean delivery (VBAC) are at low risk for maternal and neonatal complications during subsequent VBAC attempts, according to the results of a study reported in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology."

VeriChip Corporation - Infant "Protection"

2008-01-27T07:16:00.000-08:00

VeriChip Corporation - Infant Protection: "The number of total switching incidents is as high as 20,000 per year in the U.S.
- Journal of Healthcare Protection Management"

Instead of this statisic being the foundation of a pro-
"tagging" your infant argument to sell the people on how "good" RFID/National ID, Big Brother "so that we can protect you" etc. etc. is...parents should consider returning to the ancient and safe custom of birth at home.

Five Standards for Safe Childbearing - Awesome quote!

2008-01-25T23:39:00.000-08:00

Five Standards for Safe Childbearing - Google Book Search

"It is a comment on our times that we, who want childbirth to again become an intimate family affair, filled with the security of one's home and the love and tenderness of one's family, are considered radicals." Doris Haire

Excerpts from the 5 Standards of Safe Childbirth

2008-01-25T23:14:00.000-08:00

NAPSAC

by David Stewart, PhD:

...Every study published shows midwives to be safer than doctors. Every study. No exceptions. If your physician disagrees with this, challenge him or her to produce the data that supports otherwise. They won't be able to do it. Such data does not and never did exist. In a nutshell, that is the strength of the case for midwifery. It is unanimous.

...In March of 1996, the Kansas State Supreme Court rules that midwifery is a distinct profession. The high court stated that "even if the midwife does something that could be construed as medical practice, it is not medical practice. It is midwifery. An activity is not incident to the practice of medicine just because it is engaged in by the members of the medical profession."

Dr. Stewart says, "Any practitioner who attends birth with an attitude of respect for individuality, support of nature, promoting health, and the preservations of normality by little or no intervention is, by our definition, a "midwife" even though he or she may hold a degree in medical doctoring."

To get a copy of the new, fully updated 1997 "Five Standards for Safe Childbearing" by David Stewart, Ph.D send $16.95, plus $3.00 shipping to NAPSAC, Rt. 1, Box 646, Marble Hill, MO 63764-9725, USA. (make checks payable to NAPSAC International, in US funds) reprints of the Midwifery article are $4.95 each, plus $1.50 shipping, and the Home Birth Chapter is $3.95, plus $1.50 shipping. *I have no financial or any other interest in NAPSAC, except I like the work the Stewarts do!*

Ezra James Burgess

2008-01-24T17:31:00.000-08:00

Ezra James Burgess

-More beautiful fruit of the labor of birth at home in Alabama!

N.J. Orders HIV Testing For Pregnant Women - washingtonpost.com

2007-12-29T13:42:00.000-08:00

N.J. Orders HIV Testing For Pregnant Women - washingtonpost.com: "NEW YORK, Dec. 27 -- New Jersey this week launched one of the most ambitious efforts in the country to control mother-to-child transmission of HIV, making screening tests mandatory for all pregnant women in the state beginning next year.

A bill signed into law Wednesday by the Senate president, Richard J. Codey, in his capacity as acting governor, requires two tests for pregnant women, at the beginning of the pregnancy and again in the third trimester, unless the mother objects. If the mother objects, the objection will be noted and the newborn will then be tested for HIV, with the only exception being on religious grounds. Newborns will also be tested if the woman tests positive."

The Makers of Modern Schooling - John Taylor Gatto

2007-12-22T16:13:00.000-08:00

The Makers of Modern Schooling - John Taylor Gatto

The makers of modern schooling weren't at all who we think.

55 Reasons for Having a Home Birth

2007-12-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

The Birth Centre for homebirth, waterbirth and natural birth

1.	Homebirths have been proven to be the safest way to give birth.
2.	Homebirth is a cost effective way of having private professional care.
3.	There is less chance of getting an infection in the home situation than in a hospital.
4.	Homebirths have a 5% ceasaerean section rate as compared to a 50% ceasaerean section rate in hospitals.
5.	Woman are more likely to give birth without tears and cuts at home. Some doctors cut women routinely in hospital.
6.	Breast feeding is more successful in a home environment.
7.	Breast milk normally comes in on day two compared to the average day three or four in hospital.
8.	There is a decreased rate of vacuum extractions and forceps deliveries at home compared with the 20% rate in hospitals.
9.	Fathers are not pressurised to attend the birth. In hospital they are expected to attend, and told what to do and where to stand.
10.	Fathers can be totally involved and can help deliver the baby at a homebirth.
11.	A homebirth is an art and a science. A hospital birth is a science.
12.	Homebirth is a private, romantic affair. In hospital it is a public occasion.
13.	At home women take responsibility and make choices for themselves. In hospital women have things done to them.
14.	At home the woman can choose the most comfortable position for labour and birth. In hospital women are told how to give birth 99% of the time.
15.	At home things can be arranged the way you want them with music, friends in attendance, candles and a beautiful atmosphere. In hospital everyone gives birth in labour ward 1 or 2 which look scary, cold and clinical.
16.	At home you look at pleasant things like flowers, pictures and objects of beauty. In hospital you see the clock, the stirrups and medical equipment.
17.	Routine intervention is unheard of at home, because each woman is an individual and needs different things at different times. In hospitals, routine procedures are done by doctors with a "standing order".
18.	Private hospitals are expensive.
19.	In government hospitals, space is insufficient and they are often overcrowded.
20.	Homebirth midwives are trained and experienced. Training hospitals are training and experiencing.
21.	At home births, qualified people attend to you constantly. In hospital one midwife may supervise 2 or 3 births simultaneously.
22.	At home, a woman gives birth instinctively, listening to her body. In hospital, a woman gives birth listening to her doctor.
23.	At homebirths, natural remedies are used but medication is available if needed. In hospital medication is given even if not needed.
24.	Born at home, a baby is treated with the utmost respect and looked upon as a human being with feelings. It is not subjected to routine injections, suctioning and painful measures on the first day. There are no bright lights and rough handling.
25.	Babies tend to lose less weight when born at home.
26.	There is a decreased amount of postnatal depression after a homebirth.
27.	A homebirth offers personalised care throughout the pregnancy, labour, birth and aftercare with people you have chosen and trust. You will not have the shock of a doctor, locum or midwife that you have never met before.
28.	A homebirth is not only a setting but also a philosophy. A hospital birth is a setting.
29.	There is less intervention at a homebirth such as routine shaving or clipping of hair, enema, internals, amniotomy, epesiotomy, intravenous therapy, epidural and continuous foetal monitoring.
30.	Inductions are not done at home. Instead, natural remedies are used which have no side effects.
31.	At a homebirth, women are encouraged to eat and drink frequently. In hospital, food is not allowed and an intravenous drip is given to maintain fluid levels.
32.	If a hospital is required, outside emergencies receive more attention than do hospital emergencies. Midwives liase continuously with doctors throughout the labour.
33.	Midwives who do homebirths are experienced and equipped to deal with emergencies. In hospital, the doctor still has to be called in if the midwife is inexperienced.
34.	At a homebirth, there is no exhausting travel to hospital when in labour, and there is no exhausting changing from bed to bed as in hospital.
35.	A woman who gives birth at home has more confidence and an increased psychological boost.
36.	Water births are easily accessible in the home birth situation.
37.	A homebirth involves the spiritual, emotional, social, physical, mental, romantic, medical, religious and natural aspects. In hospital the emphasis is on the physical and medical.
38.	Babies experience less foetal distress in the homebirth situation because fewer drugs are used and women eat, drink and remain active.
39.	At a homebirth, a professional midwife visits for 5 days after the the birth. Women are usually discharged after 3 days from hospital, and expected to be able to manage on their own.
40.	Midwives specialise in natural birth, while doctors specialise in high risks and abnormal births.
41.	Women at home often choose the supported squat as it opens the pelvis by 30% more than lying on your back.
42.	At a homebirth, you are free to choose who you want to be present while in hospital you can only have one person.
43.	At a homebirth, your children can be with you while at a hospital birth they cannot.
44.	There is no chance that your baby will be swapped or stolen with a homebirth. In a hospital there is always that risk.
45.	Homebirth babies don't have to cry to prove they're alive. Hospital babies are made to cry.
46.	At a homebirth, various kinds of pain relief will be used before resorting to an epidural. In a private hospital birth, epidurals are encouraged if you are making unusual birth noises.
47.	At a homebirth, sunshine and frequent feeding at the breast treats jaundice babies adequately. When phototherapy is needed, it can be administered at home. Jaundice occcurs frequently in hospital because of assisted deliveries and medication. The baby will be treated immediately under the phototherapy lights which can be traumatic for baby and mother.
48.	The only time a homebirth is not safe, is when there is a high risk. This is what hospitals are for.
49.	At a homebirth, the use of alternative therapies such as aromatherapy, homeopathy and acupuncture is acceptable. In hosptitals, the use of alternative therapies are often regarded with suspicion or scepticism.
50.	At homebirths, there is a reduced amount of bleeding after birth because the cord is cut only after it stops pulsating and the placenta is born passively. In hospital, the cord is cut straight away and the placenta is artificially extracted, increasing the risk of haemorrhage.
51.	Homebirth is a continuation within the family. A hospital birth separates families for up to three days.
52.	Home affords the mother ample sleep and rest after birth. There are no visiting hours, nurses performing 4 hourly observations or other crying babies to keep her awake.
53.	Husbands have plenty to do at a homebirth and in no way feel superfluous. Hospitals often make husbands feel like privileged bystanders.
54.	A homebirth baby is born into a natural environment, the one in which he will be living. Hospital birth necessitates transport to the home environment.
55.	At home, a woman may labour and give birth in the same place. In the hospital, she must be transferred to a different room to give birth.

U.S.'s low rank for newborns' survival - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

2007-12-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

U.S.'s low rank for newborns' survival - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com: "Nation ranks near bottom among modern nations, better only than Latvia"

Are doctors the #1 cause of death in the U.S.?

2007-12-05T16:11:00.000-08:00

DEATH BY The Practice of MEDICINE

Quaid Twins not Alone in Wrong Injections

2007-11-21T16:44:00.000-08:00

ABC News: video

World Class Hospital Overdoses Dennis Quaid's Twin Infants

2007-11-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

'No excuse for Dennis Quaid twin overdose' | NEWS.com.au Entertainment:

November 22, 2007

"DENNIS Quaid's newborn twins remain fighting for their lives today after being given a drug overdose in hospital - a gaffe officials now admit is easily preventable. Quaid's children Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, who were born earlier this month, were accidentally given 10,000-unit doses of the anti-coagulant Heparin at LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre - 1000 times the normal amount.

The hospital's medical chief Michael Langberg today admitted the error was 'preventable' and involved 'a failure to follow our standard policies and procedures'. 'There is no excuse for that to occur,' he said, adding the babies 'indicated no adverse effects from the higher concentration of Heparin or from the temporary abnormal clotting function. Doctors continue to monitor the patients.'

He has also apologised to Quaid and his wife Kimberley Buffington."

Childbirth Timeline

2007-11-13T21:56:00.000-08:00

We've Come a Long Way, Babies - a history of childbirth Mothering - Find Articles

Reverencing Our Husbands

2007-10-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

reverencing our husbands

Obstetric death of West Boca woman

2007-10-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Jurors weigh verdict in malpractice trial involving death of West Boca woman -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com:

Special's lawyers agree that her death was catastrophic. But it was entirely preventable, attorney Andrew Yaffa said.

"Susan Special's water had broken about a month early and doctors decided she should have a Caesarean because her baby was in the breech position. "

Kaiser doctor, accused of negligence, remains on the job

2007-10-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Kaiser doctor, accused of negligence, remains on the job - Los Angeles Times

Don't Sell Your Sisters Down the River - by Jan Tritten

2007-10-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

Editorial: Don't Sell Your Sisters Down the River - by Jan Tritten

The Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) has always been an inclusive organization, a place for all midwives. MANA's whole foundation has been one of acceptance and unity. I was shocked, therefore, when I heard that the board had proposed that only licensed, certified professional midwives (CPMs) or certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) could be voting members. This proposal reeks of a witch hunt and will cause even worse separation in our already divided movement.

Midwifery was bruised and nearly broken in New York state in the mid-1990s when direct entry and lay midwives were outlawed, then replaced, by only those midwives coming out of an "approved" direct entry program. Is MANA planning this scene for the whole country? Will MANA members simply stand by in complicity? If so, another midwifery uprising will occur, bringing forth a new surge of lay midwives who are willing to serve women in a way that we can't. The flow of the river is carrying us in a direction we will soon be unable to resist. Midwifery will be back where it was several years ago, with a strong, illegal lay midwifery movement acting as a powerful undercurrent. The midwives of MANA will represent the status quo. We will have colluded with the patriarchal medical establishment so that it is against the law to practice anything the whim of medicine decides midwives should or shouldn't do. We will be limited soon by protocols that will hamstring us into practicing watered-down midwifery and will rob women of their birthing rights.

One of the many reasons hospital birth is dangerous.

2007-10-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Staph fatalities may exceed AIDS deaths - Yahoo! News:

"Most cases were life-threatening bloodstream infections. However, about 10 percent involved so-called flesh-eating disease, according to the study led by researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 988 reported deaths among infected people in the study, for a rate of 6.3 per 100,000. That would translate to 18,650 deaths annually, although the researchers don't know if MRSA was the cause in all cases.

If these deaths all were related to staph infections, the total would exceed other better-known causes of death including AIDS — which killed an estimated 17,011 Americans in 2005 — said Dr. Elizabeth Bancroft of the Los Angeles County Health Department, the editorial author."

Nude Examinations

2007-10-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

RestoringHealthcare.pdf

Nude examinations

Currently in vogue in western medicine is the routine giving of breast exams, pelvic exams, and rectal exams. As is often done by male doctors on female patients, women who are other men’s wives. The doctor says, “Take off your clothes,” and the client does. Do you give that kind of authority to anyone else? Some cultures in the world only allow female doctors to treat female patients. That strikes me as a wise course of action.

I am shocked by the callousness of some doctors and nurses in hospitals concerning nudity. Once, while making a pastoral hospital visit on a parishioner scheduled for surgery, I was shocked to walk through the open door of her room to find her face down on her bed, completely nude, the curtain around her bed and the door to her room both wide open for any to see. She had been prepped for surgery and left by the nurses, fully exposed and vulnerable to anyone
walking by. I immediately turned on my heel and left without her being embarrassed at knowing that I was even there. Is this kind of callous disregard for modesty and dignity what the Lord has ordained? Would YOU leave a person under your care exposed and naked and vulnerable for all to see? It would never cross my mind to do such a thing! Would it yours? What kind of crudeness and evil allows one to behave in such an ungodly manner?

Restoring Healthcare as a Ministry

2007-10-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

RestoringHealthcare.pdf

Hospital childbirth is one unnecessary “surgery.”

The following information is summarized from Healing in Zion, pages 66-67: Hospital childbirth is extremely dangerous. The United States has 9.7 deaths per thousand births; Japan has 4.4; Sweden has 5.7. The U.S. ranks twenty-second in the world in maternal and neonatal safety, ranking below every other developed nation. The safest place is Holland, and there a large percentage of babies are born at home. Worldwide, doctors handle only two out of ten attended
births. Midwives oversee the rest.

Dr. Robert Mendelsohn recites the following statistics concerning
the dangers of giving birth in a hospital: “Babies born in U.S. hospitals are six times more likely to suffer distress during labor and delivery, eight times more likely to get caught in the birth canal, four times more likely to need resuscitation, four times more likely to become infected, and thirty times more likely to be permanently injured. Their mothers are three times more likely to hemorrhage.” (Heretic, p. 91)
Dr. Murray Enkin, professor emeritus of obstetrics at Canada’s McMaster University in Ontario for ten years, researched studies published in sixty major scientific journals on childbearing. In addition,
eighteen thousand obstetricians were interviewed to obtain unpublished data. The research revealed that “Much of what our doctors and hospitals do for pregnancy and birth is wrong, expensive
and dangerous...[They] routinely employ methods of care that not only offer little benefit to mother or infant, but actually can be dangerous to them.”
He evaluated 285 procedures and policies of care, and only 100 of them were rated as successful and safe. Sixty were rated as dangerous,
and should be abandoned; eighty-eight had unknown effect; thirty-seven were possibly effective.
Home birth is definitely safer than going to a U.S. hospital. A hospital turns what God designed to be a natural process into a
surgical experience. Only 5% of births have complications which may require a doctor. Because of this 5%, any woman planning on home childbirth should have a standby plan to go to a hospital if an emergency develops.

Stories that make you cringe

Some doctors go wild while you are under their control. While writing this book, I downloaded the following article off the internet from Associated Press Writer Verena Dobnik (January 21, 2000).
“NEW YORK - A doctor delivered a baby by Caesarean section, then used his scalpel to carve his initials into the mother’s abdomen.... Liana Gredz is now suing the 61-year-old obstetrician for $5 million, saying, the 3-by-1 1/2-inch “A” and “Z” ‘makes me feel like a branded animal.’
“According to the Daily News, witnesses in the operating room said that after delivering Gedz’s daughter on Sept. 7, Zarkin announced: ‘I did such a beautiful job, I’ll initial it.’
“‘I felt like I was raped,’ she told the Daily News. And now, with the scar that has turned into a welt, ‘I’m so embarrassed
to get undressed in front of my husband because I have another man’s initials on my stomach.’
“The couple is also suing Beth Israel Medical Center, where the child was delivered.”

A Godly Woman

2007-10-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

A Godly Woman

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Breastfeeding Protects Against Breast Cancer

2007-10-12T01:46:00.000-07:00

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Breastfeeding Protects Against Breast Cancer: "The take-home message is simple. Dr. Ursin says, 'Evidence suggests that women who have children after age 25 can reduce their risk of breast cancer by choosing to breastfeed.'"

CYTOTEC - Video

2007-10-12T01:18:00.000-07:00

WSMV.com - Video: "(4/27/07) - A drug that is given to patients at many Nashville hospitals to induce labor is specifically labeled not to be used on pregnant women."

Become a Leader - trustbirth.com

2007-10-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Become a Leader - trustbirth.com

As you may already know, I am working on a book entitled Coming Home to Birth. In addition to many of your stories, I will tell my own story of how I went from being a naive, uneducated compliant patient one moment, whose only preparation had been to read Having A Baby Can Be A Scream, by Joan Rivers ——— to being a bold, determined, and very vocal woman who threatened physical harm to my obstetrician if he came close to me with anything sharper than a piece of paper. That change did not happen over months or days or weeks but within a minute. Here is the epiphany: That did not come from me, but from within me. It was already there. We are born trusting. We have to be taught not to. Trust is part of the package. We are obviously designed to give birth. We must have been born to TRUST BIRTH. We have been taught to ignore what we already know. We have been taught that birth is scary and must be left to the experts. We have been taught a pack of lies. -Carla Hartley

Birth Experiences: The Best Day of My Life

2007-10-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Birth Experiences: The Best Day of My Life:

"...each time I hope and pray that the woman I assist will find the path to homebirth..."

"'I am part of the homebirth movement because......... because we are too short, too tall, too thin, too small of foot, too old, too young, too wide, and our pelvises are too narrow, too small, too untried, or unproven or the wrong shape, and our uteruses are too scarred, or pointing the wrong way, or we are too multiparous, too fertile, too infertile, too female, too small, too big, too fat, too emotional, too detached, too strong, too weak, too intelligent, too well designed to birth, not designed well enough, and our vaginas are too scarred, too unproven, not stretchy enough or too stretchy, and we're too inconvenient, too unpredictable, too demanding, too informed, too loud, too messy, and our bodies labour too long or not long enough, and our cervices don't dilate 1cm an hour on command and because when you hire a surgeon you get surgery and hospitals are for sick people� and so for these and many other reasons, we are part of the homebirth movement.' - Janet Fraser"

News: Birth Rights and Wrongs

2007-10-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

News: Birth Rights and Wrongs (Seattle Weekly): "She does not take issue with the mortality numbers from medical studies but says that those numbers should be weighed against the risks of induction. For one thing, she says, there's a greater chance of the need for cesarean sections with inductions, and that carries risks of fetal distress and maternal mortality."

..."Now the bottom line is, it doesn't make a difference if we did the friggin' test or not. The studies say that the tests don't improve outcome." It is, in fact, noted in medical literature that fetal monitoring in prolonged pregnancies has not been proven effective...

O'Conner has frequently alienated other health care providers. "Her professional attitude toward the pediatricians was that it was her role not only to critique our care, but to protect 'her' patients from what she considered to be our unnecessary and intrusive interference," wrote a Northwest Hospital pediatrician in a 1997 letter to the state. A similar letter came from Providence Medical Center. O'Conner does not deny the charge. "I'm pretty aggressive about how I advocate for my clients," she says. "I'm paid to do that."

Despite the long list of allegations against O'Conner, many of her former clients remain adamant supporters. One is Kelly Meinig, a 38-year-old mechanical engineer who had a home birth last year with O'Conner acting as a doula. "Debra was phenomenal at my birth," Meinig recalls. Though another midwife was present, it was O'Conner whom Meinig felt brought a spiritual quality to the birth. "Debra would be locked onto my hands, looking into my eyes and just intensely staying with me," Meinig says. "As ferocious as my contractions were, she was ferocious right back. I've never had that experience with any other human in my entire life."

That connection held up for the five long days in which Meinig was in labor. During that time, O'Conner essentially moved in, sleeping on a mattress by the hot tub in which Meinig eventually gave birth. Before she left, O'Conner made "refrigerator soup" so that the Meinigs would have food to eat while they were taking care of their newborn.

As O'Conner awaits a court ruling, Meinig is watching. So strongly does she feel about O'Conner that she says, "I will not have another baby unless Debra is my doula—or hopefully my midwife."

nshapiro@seattleweekly.com

Birth Trauma Tribe @ Mothering.com

2007-10-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

disappointing, or traumatic birth experiences (and moving on from them) tribe - MotheringDotCommune Forums

Infant Deaths After C-Sections Rise Even in Low-Risk Pregnancies - Forbes.com

2007-09-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

Infant Deaths After C-Sections Rise Even in Low-Risk Pregnancies - Forbes.com: "However, the study found that the death rate among neonatal infants delivered by Caesarean section was more than twice that of infants delivered vaginally. This held true even after the researchers adjusted for socio-demographic and medical risk factors."
snip>

"While timely Caesareans in response to medical conditions have proven to be life-saving interventions for countless mothers and babies, we are currently witnessing a different phenomenon -- a growing number of primary Caesareans without a reported medical condition," MacDorman said. "Although the neonatal mortality rate for this group of low-risk women remains low regardless of the method of delivery, the resulting increase in the Caesarean rate may inadvertently be putting a larger population of babies at increased risk for neonatal mortality."

The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care.

Patient-Requested Cesarean Update

2007-09-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

Patient-Requested Cesarean Update: "Both Dr. Zinberg and Dr. D'Alton stress that women who request cesarean delivery in the absence of any medical indication should be counseled on the risks associated with cesarean, including a higher risk of infection, adhesions (painful scar tissue under the skin), pulmonary embolisms (blood clots), complications from the use of anesthesia, and the potential need for future cesareans, which entail additional risk. They also pointed out that the decision to perform a CDMR should be carefully individualized and consistent with ethical principles. 'There is also a growing concern of the increased risk of babies born before 39 weeks of gestation; therefore, CDMR should not be performed prior to 39 weeks of gestation or without verification of lung maturity,' says Dr. Zinberg."

John Edwards & Childbirth - Wikipedia

2007-09-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

John Edwards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1985, Edwards tried a case involving medical malpractice during childbirth, representing a five-year-old child born with cerebral palsy whose doctor did not choose to perform an immediate Caesarian delivery when a fetal monitor showed she was in distress. Edwards won a $6.5 million verdict for his client, but five weeks later, the presiding judge sustained the verdict but overturned the award on grounds that it was "excessive" and that it appeared "to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice," adding that in his opinion "the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict." He offered the plaintiffs half of the jury's award, but the child's family appealed the case and settled for $4.25 million.^[13] Winning this case established the North Carolina precedent of physician and hospital liability for failing to determine if the patient understood risks of a particular procedure.^[14]

After this trial, Edwards gained national attention as a plaintiff's lawyer. He filed at least 20 similar lawsuits in the years following and achieved verdicts and settlements of more than $60 million for his clients. His fee, as is customary in "contingency" cases, was one-third of the settlement plus expenses. These successful lawsuits were followed by similar ones across the country. When asked about an increase in Caesarean deliveries nationwide, perhaps to avoid similar medical malpractice lawsuits, Edwards said, "The question is, would you rather have cases where that happens instead of having cases where you don't intervene and a child either becomes disabled for life or dies in utero?"^[13]

Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants

2007-09-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants:

"Skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby at birth reduces crying, improves mother-baby interaction, keeps the baby warmer, and helps women breastfeed successfully. In many cultures, babies are generally cradled naked on their mother's bare chest at birth. Historically, this was necessary for the baby's survival. In recent times, in some societies as more babies are born in hospital, babies are separated or dressed before being given to their mothers. It has been suggested that in industrialized societies, hospital routines may significantly disrupt early mother-infant interactions and have harmful effects. The review was done to see if there was any impact of early skin-to-skin contact between the mother and her newborn baby on infant health, behavior and breastfeeding. The review included 30 studies involving 1925 mothers and their babies. It showed that babies interacted more with their mothers, stayed warmer, and cried less. Babies were more likely to be breastfed, and to breastfeed for longer, if they had early skin-to-skin contact. Babies were also, possibly, more likely to have a good early relationship with their mothers, but this was difficult to measure."

Henci Goer: Informed Choice in Childbirth

2007-09-26T04:25:00.000-07:00

Henci Goer: Informed Choice in Childbirth

Caesarean High Risk for Babies of Low Risk Mothers

2007-09-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Spotlighting News - Caesarean Birth Babies in Risk
commenting below this article was disabled. However,
I also dug this article up here:
http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=10173
where comments may still be made.

Cesarean spike drives up Medicaid costs

2007-09-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

Cesarean spike drives up Medicaid costs - Baby Basics

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) — About one-quarter of all children born in the United States — over 1 million — are delivered by Cesarean section, a new report says.

That marks a 38 percent increase from 1997, when about a fifth of all American babies were delivered by Cesarean, the study by Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found.

Cesarean Section Homepage

2007-09-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

Cesarean Section - Childbirth.org

John Edwards vs. Babies and Moms

2007-09-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

Michael Fumento: John Edwards vs. Babies and Moms

Yet Edwards won his cases not because scientific evidence favored him but because of his smooth-talking "trust-me" demeanor -- and heart-wrenching pleas in which he ghoulishly sometimes pretended to be the voice of the unfortunate child crying out for justice.

It's not considered impossible that asphyxiation during birth could cause cerebral palsy; just darned unlikely. United Cerebral Palsy lists about a dozen ways to help prevent the condition. Not one mentions the birthing procedure.

Further, in what's called "defensive medicine," lawsuit fears increased the number of "When in doubt, cut it out" C-sections. Cesareans in the U.S. had begun dropping in the late 1980s, going as low as 22 percent of deliveries. As Edwards and friends spread fear across the Ob/gyn land, rates began to climb again. The rate is now 30.2 percent, a record high for the nation.

The C-section epidemic - Los Angeles Times

2007-09-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

The C-section epidemic - Los Angeles Times

More women are dying in childbirth thanks to the high numbers of doctors and mothers who opt out of normal delivery.

By Jennifer Block
September 24, 2007

Pre-term births are on the rise. Nearly one-third of women have major abdominal surgery to give birth. And compared with other industrialized countries, the United States ranks second-to-last in infant survival. For years, these numbers have suggested something is terribly amiss in delivery wards. Now there is even more compelling evidence that the U.S. maternity care system is failing: For the first time in decades, the number of women dying in childbirth has increased.

Disposable Diapers linked to Infertility

2007-09-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

BBC News | HEALTH | Nappy 'link to infertility':

"High scrotal temperatures are known to reduce sperm counts in adults. The German scientists believe their discovery could explain the rise in male infertility and drop in sperm counts over the past 25 years. Cotton nappies The average sperm count of European men has dropped by 25% over the last 25 years and around 27,000 British couples seek infertility treatment every year."

Long-term effects

Writing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, which is published by the British Medical Journal, the scientists said their findings were significant.

"It seems to be possible that a prolonged and continuous elevation of testicular temperature by a mean of one degree can affect the maturation of the infant testis."

They added: "Plastic nappy use may have a negative long-term effect on testicular maturation, spermatogenesis and, in addition, may facilitate the development of testicular cancer."

Tim Hedgely, chairman of the fertility charity Issue, commented: "This research is quite staggering and could be of immense importance to us.

"There is no question that a disposable nappy creates a warm, damp environment for a child to sit on while something like a cotton towel leaks out wetness."

I Called ICAN

2007-09-19T07:04:00.001-07:00

and spoke with a lovely lady who gave me some good recommendations for a dear sister of mine who just underwent Caesarean surgery. She said that she is not at liberty to give out medical advice but that "If it were her," she would amp up her intake of quality vitamins, such as Vitamin C as it fights infection, and very good quality Vitamin E to take orally and also to rub on the scar. Also recommended was staying on a good pre-natal vitamin.

While nursing, she said at least 2500 calories a day should be consumed -healthy calories.
Drink a LOT of water. She said at least half of one's body weight in ounces. So a 200 lb. woman should have at least 100 ounces of water a day. I think the keeping hydrated part is probably extremely important during the healing process.

RED Rasberry leaf tea. She said every woman every day would benefit as it's especially healthy for reproduction related organs(?) She said hot, cold, sweet, with honey, however.

And chiropractic care. She was very much for this.

She that my sister's recovery was important, esp. if she planned to go through the medical establishment for her next birth as in order for them to "allow" her to attempt a VBAC in a hospital setting, she would have to have a stellar recovery from this one.

She was quite in favor of HBAC which sounded like one of the best ways I can think of to heal from a bad birth -have a beautiful one.

Last, I shared that my sister was experiencing some strong emotions, which is a very healthy sign. The ICAN representative said that our experiences shape us and make us into the person we're to become and also help us help others in ways we couldn't without those experiences.

Trust Birth Conference 2008

2007-09-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

Trust Birth Conference 2008